Washing-machine.



' B, SPIELVOGEL.

WASHING MACHINE. APPLIOATION I ILED NOV. 29, 1913.

Patnted Apr. 28, 1914.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. SPIEL VOGEL. WASHING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1913.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@Wcmw I nnnotr srrELvoc nL, or WISCONSIN.

WASHING-MACHiNE.

incense.

Specification of Letters latent. Application filed November 29, 1913. Serial No. 803,836.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

To all w/wm it may concern l 3e it known that I, RUnoLr SPIELVOGEL, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Hartford, in the county of lVashington and- State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vvashing- Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple, economical and effective washing machine, the arrangement and construction of which invention is such that the tank is provided with a buoyant false bottom, which bottom is adapted to support materials being washed and gently press the same against a revoluble scrubbing disk.

With the aboveobjects in view the inventlon consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as hereinafter set forth with reference to the .accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a washing machine embodying the features of my invention; Fig. 2, a sectional elevation of the same, the section being indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan view of the machine; Fig. 4, a detailed cross-section illustrating guides for a buoyant float, and Fig. 5, an enlarged detailed sectional view of a detachable pitman connection, which pitman is adapted to couple a power-driven crank to a hand: lever, V

Referring by characters to the drawings, 1 represents a tank preferably polygonal in cross-section, the same being provided with a hinged lid 2, which lid carries a center bracket 3 and a supplemental bracket 3.

The center bracket has journaled therein a is journaled in boxes projecting from the brackets 3, 3'. The opposite end of the shaft 7 has secured thereto an actuating.

lever 8, the same being provided with a handle whereby rocking motion may be imparted to-the shaft through manual power.

A stud 9 having a base-plate 9 is secured to one face of the tank for the reception of a wheel 10, the same constituting a revoluble crank. The hub of the crank-wheel is .pro-

vided with a clutch-ring 11 for engagement with a clutch-collar 12, which collar, in conjunction with a sprocket-wheel 13 is rigidly secured to a sleeve 12 that is revolubly mounted upon the stud, the said sleeve being provided with an annular recess for engagement with spanner arms of a clutch-controlling lever 15. This lever is also pivotally mounted upon .a bracket that projects from the tank and may be either of the foot or hand-controlled type. The stud 9 is also provided with a bushing 9, upon which bushing the crank-wheel and sleeve are adapted-to rotate free ly.- Power is applied to the crank-wheel 10 through a belt connection from a motor 16, which motor, as shown in Fig. 1, is rigidly supported upon a bracket 16 that is fast to one face of the tank. The sleeve sprocket-wheel 13 isin Link-belt connection with a corresponding sprocket-wheel 17 that is fast upon one end of ,a wringer-shaft 18, which shaft carries one .of the wringer-rolls, not ShOWni The shaft 18 and the journals 19 of the upper wringer-roll are in gear connection and are mounted in a wringer frame 20, which frame is removably attached .to a retaining board 21 that is also secured to one of the tank sides. The said wringer may be of any type and forms no part of my invention. The crank-wheel 10 is adapted to be coupled to the lever ,8 by a pitman rod 22, the lower end of which pitman rod is secured to the crankwheel by a stud 23, while. the upper end is detachably connected'to an apertured ear 24 of a shackle, the hub of which shackle is loosely mounted upon a wrist-pin 25 that is arranged to be fitted into any one of a series of apertures that extend through the lever 8 intermediate of its ends, the wrist-pin being secured to the lever by a suitable retaining nut 25 that is in threaded union with one end of said wrist-pin. v

In order to uncouple the pitman-rod 22 from its shackle connection with the lever 8, the said pitman-rod is provided with a head having apertured cars 26, which ears are adapted to straddle the shackle car 24 and are confined thereto by a spring-controlled pin 27, the same being in reciprocative engagement with the head ear apertures. By this arrangement it will be apparent that when it is not desired to utilize the motor as a driving power that the pitman rod may be readily disconnected from the actuating lever 8, whereby the machine may be converted into a manually actuated device and, when driven by the motor, it is obvious that the belt connection therefrom will cause rotation of the crank-wheel, whereby reciprocative motion will be imparted to the lever 8 throughits pitman connection with said crank-wheel. hen it is desired to operate the wringer the lever-controlled sleeve 12 is actuated to effect a clutching engagement with the crank-wheel, whereby power is applied to the sprocket-chain drive to impart motion to the wringer-rolls.

The bottom 1 of the tank is centrally apertured for the reception of a guide-sleeve 28, which sleeve is secured to the tank bottom by a flange 28, as shown. The lower end of the sleeve is threaded for the reception of a removable cap 29, whereby the said sleeve may be drained, if desired, it being understood, however, that drainage from the tank can also be effected through the drain-cock 30, which cock is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

A buoyant false bottom 31 is loosely mounted within the tank, its peripheral face being shaped to conform to the polygonal shape of the tank, whereby said float is held against rotary movement. The float is preferably formed from wood strips boxed for the reception of a cork filler 32, it being understood, however, that any suitable arrangement whereby the bottom is rendered buoyant may be provided other than that shown. The upper scrubbing face of the float is provided with a series of strips 33 having crowned faces to present a corrugated or irregular scrubbing surface. The circular disk above the false bottom is provided with a similar series of corrugated strips 33 which oppose the scrubbing faces of the false bottom. The false bottom is carried by a stem 34, which stem projects 1 into the 'uide-sleeve 28. The stem is further guided by pairs of parallel bars 35 which extend crosswise of the tank center to form an upper support for said stem, as shown. Hence it will be seen that the buoyant false bottom is capable of rising and falling when the tank is filled or partly filled with washing fluid.

It is obvious from the foregoing that, when it is desired to operate the machine, the lid being lifted, the clothing or other article to be washed is inserted within the tank over the false bottom and when the lid is closed the disk 5 will force the articles downward, together with the buoyant false bottom, which will oppose the immersed articles and thus the same will be gently compressed between the two scrubbing surfaces. By manipulating the disk either by hand or motive power, oscillation imparted to said disk will thoroughly scrub the clothing due to the fact that the false bottom, while exerting a gentle scrubbing pressure upon said clothing, will notrevolve or oscillate with the disk and hence the scrubbing is effected in a thorough and gentle manner with no tendency to tear or mar the articles being scrubbed. It will be further observed that the lid can be opened or closed without uncoupling the gear connection with the motor and, should it be desired to uncouple the motor power for actuating the machine by hand, it can be quickly effected by manipulating the spring-controlled pin, whereby the pitman can be freed from the lever 8.

I claim:

A washing machine comprising a polygonal tank, a buoyant false bottom polygonal in shape mounted within the tank, guides for the false bottom, a removable lid for the tank, a revoluble scrubbing disk carried by the lid provided with a scrubbing face opposite the false bottom, and an actuating gear for the scrubbing disk.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Hartford in the county of Washington and State of Wiscousin in the presence of two witnesses.

RUDOLF SPIELVOGEL.

\Vitnesses:

Fnno. G. Manse, J. G. LIVER. 

